Musicatlas
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Life
Born in 1963 in Lisbon, arrived by himself with fifteen years old, to the Music Academy "Academia de Amadores de Música" to study Guitar and Composition. Marecos studied at the same time Electronic Engineering, Design and Music. He worked as a furniture designer in a family business to support his musical studies.
Marecos graduated in Composition from "Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa" in 1996, where he studied with Eurico Carrapatoso, António Pinho Vargas and Christopher Bochmann. Also courses seminaries driven by Emmanuel Nunes, Gilbert Amy and Louis Andriessen.
In 1995 Marecos founded his own ensemble "Portable Music" a chamber ensemble with which he has developed a work in contemporary music and in the modern harmonization of Portuguese folk music, an ensemble mainly destined to present his music in non-conventional stages. His interest for traditional folk music conducted him to find a musical language which conciliates his contemporary style with his approach to the folk music.
Over the last years, Marecos has received commissions from entities as Culturgest (CGD), Acarte — Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Expo-98 in Lisbon, Almada Clarinet Orchestra OrchestrUtopica, International Estoril Festival, between others. He also works regularly with theatre and contemporary dance. His music has been played in Spain, France, England, Denmark, Colombia and USA.
The Prize "Prémio Lopes-Graça" of Composition 1999 was attributed to Marecos, for the work "Portuguese Folk Songs" for soprano and piano. He won the same prize again in the edition of 2000 with the work "5 miniatures for cello solo".
Since 2002 Marecos is developing a work in opera and drama productions with a team of artists as the soprano Margarida Marecos, the actor Guilherme Filipe and the stage director Paulo Lages; since then they’ve already present the following works:
- "La Serva Padrona / A Criada Patroa", the intermezzo musicalle of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi recreated by Marecos in a modern version with his orchestration and original composition in all recitatives, a work subsidized by the Portuguese department of the Culture / IPAE.
- "Caminho ao Céu" (Way to heaven) commissioned by Culturgest.
- "O Fim — Ópera íntima" (The End — intimate opera) a chamber opera subsidized by the Portuguese department of the Culture / IA.
The work "Ligamos os motores damos aos remos" (engines on, but we also row) a commission by OrchestrUtopica and of the Festival International of Music of the Estoril — Mare Nostrum, was recently performed in New York in June 2005 under the direction of the American director David Alan Miller.
Marecos teaches composition at the school Conservatório de Música D. Dinis in Odivelas and at the Technical School of Image and Communication in Lisbon.